I am distressed that this Liberal government and the Health Minister, Greg Hunt, are sliding in the banning of e-cigarettes and nicotine based e-juice.
Nicotine has always been prohibited in Australia, however, it has been available in New Zealand and Europe and the USA.
I have, like many many others, turned to this method as a quit smoking program.
In my case, I have attempted many options from champix drugs, patches, chewing gum, lozenges and hypnotherapy, but these have all been unsuccessful and the adverse reaction was huge weight gains up to 20kgs.
We all know how hard it is to lose weight and how expensive this can be.
I felt like this was my last option.
I have always said, why would you buy an e-cigarette, just give up, hah!
Then I attempted to stop smoking with nicotine added.
I talked with the sales rep at It’s Vaping and she was the change agent.
I stopped smoking cigarettes with both of my sons, who were also smokers and have been vaping for at least two years, and supplied the e-juice with nicotine.
This, for me, has been the best quitting attempt to date.
The plus has been that I have not gained a kilo and I can walk to our local shops with plenty of breath, something I have not had in years.
I have a great number of friends who are also vapers and also get their nicotine from overseas.
We are all distressed, because like all addicts, we will fall back into cigarette smoking.
Is this what is wanted – cigarette taxes?
This country supports drug addicts with a variation of alternative therapies.
Many are drugs, which are paid for by taxpayers with minimal benefit.
Additional to that, this group of people also depend on Centrelink payments.
We support ourselves and work in many different professions.
Smoking is the most addictive habit physiological and psychologically and most have been on the give-up merry-go-round, then the weight loss merry-go-round, all to find that we return to smoking.
This is no different to giving heroin users methadone, which leads to doctors prescribing and a pharmacist dispensing.
Part of the new prohibition bill is that a doctor can prescribe and it be dispensed by a pharmacist, but neither of these groups want anything to do with it, understandably.
I do ponder the question, how much have tobacco companies greased the proponents palm to get this through so quickly?
Email, Jun 29
Julie Horner, Lake Haven